'The Tillman Story' Is a Lesson for Journalists

It has been six years since Pat Tillman was shot three times in the head on a rocky hillside in Afghanistan. The Army initially claimed Tillman was killed in a firefight with hostile forces.

Dannie Tillman, Tillman's mom, didn't buy it. She pressed for the truth, and the Army eventually acknowledged that there were no hostile forces in the firefight. Tillman was killed by friendly fire.

Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times writes that journalists — himself included — got caught up chronicling Tillman's heroic story. Instead, they should have followed Dannie's lead and pressed for the truth.

"She got in the military's face, in the government's face. She didn't let up. She was doing journalism while journalists were doing what we mostly do now — chase web hits and take short cuts to higher profits.

"A housewife got the real story, or as much of it as anybody probably will. Professionals trained to do so gathered moss and wrote slop."

"The Tillman Story", a documentary by Amir Bar-Lev, will be released In August.

Dwyre writes: "It won't be in many theaters, and it won't be around for long. You need to watch for it. It will make you angry and ashamed. Like I am."

Comments

[yumtoad]

Some of the biggest mistakes people/organizations make is when they base decisions off salvaging public relations. Sensible people realize that we do not live in a deterministic world and it is impossible to mistake-proof everything. Errors happen, esp. in war. The people in the Army who made this decision to lie about this have done far more damage to the Army's prestige than the potential benefit if the cover up would have stuck.

[Jennifer]

Actually, it will be around for long. John Battsek, the producer, said the film was picked up by the Weinstein Company and will be nationally released in August. And when it does come out in theaters, everyone must see this film.